Page 13 of In the Midnight Hour

“I know you’re on your way out, but may I trouble you for a few minutes?” North brushed past him and went to sit in a chair next to the massive mahogany desk.

Harry exhaled. “If you make it very quick. I’m expected at an inquest.” He sat down at the desk and turned toward North, his identical tawny gaze expectant.

“I was hoping there might be one regarding Sir Radnor’s death,” North said.

“You’re still on that?” Harry made a slight face. “I sent Drummond to investigate. He said it was an accident, and I trust his conclusion implicitly.”

North angled himself more fully toward Harry and leaned forward. “Did Drummond’s report detail all the cleaning the housekeeper conducted at the scene? She erased a good deal of evidence.”

“Drummond spoke extensively with Mrs. Babcock, and she explained what she did. I’m satisfied her testimony provides the information we need.”

“How did she quantify the amount of blood? Head wounds are notoriously bloody. The blood on the bedpost did not look sufficient to me.”

“To you.” Harry eyed him sardonically. “With your vast experience.”

North scowled at him. “Don’t be a dolt like Drummond was. You’ve told me on more than one occasion that you sometimes just had a feeling about someone or something whilst conducting an investigation.”

“Yes. But you aren’t me, North. You haven’t been investigating crime for the past several years.”

“Am I not allowed to have my own intuition that something isn’t right? The housekeeper’s demeanor was strange too. She wasn’t terribly upset about the death of her employer. She seemed more concerned about her future employment.”

Harry crossed his arms. “I don’t find that odd. In fact, that’s a natural concern for a retainer when their employer dies suddenly.”

“Fine.” North tamped down his frustration. “I also spoke with Lady Cartwright after I left Sir Radnor’s house on Friday, and she seemed nervous. Did Drummond determine the nature of her relationship with Sir Radnor?”

“Yes. They were friends who dined together and discussed books.”

“And what time did she leave? Or did she leave at all?” North’s voice rose as he let the question hang in the air.

Harry dropped his arms. Deep furrows marched across his brow. “She told Drummond she left Sir Radnor’s about midnight.”

“Did anyone in the household confirm that? And did she say how she departed?”

“In fact, her departure time was not corroborated. Unfortunately, the footman on the door was asleep, and everyone else had retired.” He narrowed his eyes again. “What do you mean by ‘how’ she left?”

“Did Drummond’s report include the fact that there’s a gate joining Sir Radnor’s and Lady Cartwright’s back gardens? Apparently, Lady Cartwright uses the gate to come and go from Sir Radnor’s as she pleases.”

Harry grunted and set his arm heavily on the edge of his desk, where he drummed his fingers as he gazed toward the fireplace. His fingers stopped abruptly, and he looked back at North. “The report didn’t mention that at all.”

“Did Drummond’s report include the valet’s assertion that Lady Cartwright had been in Sir Radnor’s chamber Friday night?”

“No. Drummond told me what the valet said and that he is an unreliable witness,” Harry explained.

North didn’t dispute that Usher’s senility called his recollection into question, but there were other clues pointing to Lady Cartwright as a suspect or at least to Sir Radnor’s death as murder instead of an accident.

“Lastly, there’s a broadsheet in Pemberton Square called the Observer,” North said. “It’s written by an anonymous hand, but it reported all the details of Sir Radnor’s death most accurately. It also said that Sir Radnor did not leave any of his fortune to his blood relatives.”

“Bloody hell.” Harry glowered at nothing in particular.

“I think you must have an inquest,” North said.

“Or more investigation.”

“Sir Radnor grows quite morbid, I should think. Do you really want to delay an inquest?”

Harry turned his gaze on North, the gold in the brown simmering. “I’m the bloody coroner, not you.”

“Then do your job and determine the cause of Sir Radnor’s death.”